The newest book by Gigi Berardi, M.A. ’88, “Bianca’s Cure” (She Writes Press/Simon & Schuster) will be released Feb. 10 and has already received favorable reviews including in Kirkus and BookLife, and has been included in a select list for BookSirens. An article published by Western Washington University, where she is a professor of urban and environmental planning and policy in the College of the Environment, discusses how Bianca’s Cure is a Renaissance version of “Lessons in Chemistry.”

Critics also call the book a “a tale of love, alchemy, power,” and, “in the tradition of the best historical fiction,…[taking] a little-known woman with a life shrouded in mystery and [imagining] the glue for a riveting story.”

Berardi earned her master’s degree in dance, having taught during that time in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. She also taught in the Department of Geography through 1991 and went on to faculty positions at Gettysburg College before moving to her current position. She also teaches in Florence, Italy, the setting for “Bianca’s Cure.” Berardi will be giving a talk in Hollywood on March 6 and doing a book reading in Santa Monica on March 11.

Her last book, “FoodWISE,” garnered 12 writing awards. An earlier book, “Finding Balance,” based on her UCLA Master’s thesis, was written when she was a UCLA graduate student, with critical assistance from her colleagues here.

At UCLA, she published over 30 reviews in the Daily Bruin. She continues to publish in dance as a contributing editor and writer for Dance Magazine. While at UCLA, she co-founded a dance medicine and science journal which now exists as Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, for which she has been a book editor ever since her time at UCLA.

In addition to being a full-time professor, Berardi teaches ballet and serves as an EMT. Besides writing books, she does blog posts and reviews. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists; her research by myriad grants and a Fulbright scholarship.